The 2001: A Space Odyssey score is an unused film score composed by Alex North for Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Background In the early stages of production, Kubrick had commissioned noted Hollywood composer Alex North, who had written the score for Spartacus and also worked on Dr. Strangelove, to write the score of his upcoming film 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, during post-production, Kubrick chose to abandon North's music in favor of classical music pieces he had earlier chosen as "guide pieces" for the soundtrack. North did not know of the abandonment of the score until after he saw the film's premiere screening. The world's first exposure to North's unused music was in 1993 via Telarc's issue of the main theme on Hollywood's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, a compilation album by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. All the music North originally wrote was recorded commercially by North's friend and colleague Jerry Goldsmith with the National Philharmonic Orchestra and was released on Varèse Sarabande CDs shortly after Telarc's first theme release but before North's death. Eventually, a mono mix-down of North's original recordings, which had survived in the interim, would be released as a limited edition CD by Intrada Records. In an interview with Michel Ciment, Kubrick explained: North, unaware that Kubrick had decided not to use the score in his film, was "devastated" at the 1968 New York City premiere screening of 2001 not to hear his work, and later offered this account of his experience: "Well, what can I say? It was a great, frustrating experience, and despite the mixed reaction to the music, I think the Victorian approach with mid-European overtones was just not in keeping with the brilliant concept of Clarke and Kubrick." The original three-track score masters had been kept at Anvil Studios in England as late as 1980, but were later erased when the Anvil facility closed. All that remained of the original tracks were mono fold down tapes kept by North's family. Original theme music Alex North's main title theme has a striking resemblance to the "Also sprach Zarathustra" piece that would eventually be used in the final film. The original theme was listed on North's original score sheet as "Bones." It would have been used three times in the film, once as the main title music, and again during the opening "Dawn of Man" sequence as an